


in these smaller designs there's something larger you might find

by theneverending



Category: Star Wars Original Trilogy
Genre: Bonding, F/M, Family Fluff, Hoth (Star Wars), No Romance, One Shot, Platonic Relationships, Post-Star Wars: A New Hope, Pre-Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, Sabacc, Sibling Bonding, They don't know they're related yet but there's hints to it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-08
Updated: 2020-08-08
Packaged: 2021-03-06 05:06:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,542
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25787797
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theneverending/pseuds/theneverending
Summary: “Both,” Leia grins. “Neither of us knew our parents either. Maybe we were separated at birth or something, twin telepathy drawing us back together.”He watches as Leia plays her hand, then he puts down a card of his own. He sees it’s a four of Staves, paired next to a six of Sabers. Luke’s heart quickens as he looks at the Mistress still in his hand.“Possibly so,” Luke bites his lip.or, luke and leia bond over their pasts.
Relationships: Leia Organa & Luke Skywalker
Comments: 9
Kudos: 35





	in these smaller designs there's something larger you might find

**Author's Note:**

> i need more space twins content in my life so i decided to write this. i wrote this all the way through in one sitting so i'll come back and edit it later. please leave a kudos and comment if you enjoy it!! :)

There’s not much to do on Hoth. The Sabacc cards that Han keeps in the Falcon have gotten so much use over the past few months that the edges are starting to tear, several of them becoming bent or scratched from the sore losers (Luke). He never learned to play before meeting his friends, Hell, he’d never even  _ heard _ of Sabacc, which is strange considering that there wasn’t much to do on Tatooine either. 

But now Luke has friends,  _ actual _ friends that he can spend time with. Ones that would play Sabacc with him for hours on end and just talk, talk about everything and nothing all at the same time. He’s sitting with Leia in her quarters now, looking over the disappointing hand of cards he’s been dealt. 

“I still look for Alderaan, between the stars,” Leia says, studying her cards. “I spent my whole life going from planet to planet for different political meetings with my parents, and every time I’d feel homesick, I’d look up to the sky and long to be back home.” 

“Do you miss them?” Luke asks.

Leia nods, “Of course, probably in the same way you miss your aunt and uncle.” 

Luke’s silence responds for him. 

“You don’t talk about them a lot,” Leia puts down a card, a four of Flasks. 

Luke hums as he searches for his next play, “Not much to talk about.”

Growing up, Luke had a tough time adjusting to life on Tatooine. He’d never known anything more than the miles and miles of burning sand, but he felt this calling, this  _ need _ to be anywhere but Tatooine, and his aunt and uncle could sense that. Aunt Beru was easier with him, her dark eyes gentle in a way that always felt like home to him. She would hold him, usually when Owen was out in the fields, running her hands through her nephew’s sandy blond hair. Luke cherished those moments, the rare ones where he felt like he had a family. 

Uncle Owen made sure he felt that as little as possible.

“What’s your favorite memory with them, your parents?” Luke asks, setting down a six of Sabers. He’s close to going over. Luke bites the inside of his cheek to keep his facial expression from giving his displeasure away. 

“For my last birthday, my parents cancelled all of their meetings. It was just the three of us for a whole day,” Leia smiles at her cards fondly. “They took me to a meadow for a picnic, somewhere remote where no one could find us. Sitting out in the flowers is better than any royal banquet I’ve ever been a part of.” 

Leia sets down an eight of Staves. If she has a five (which she probably does, she’s  _ great _ at Sabacc) then it’s over for Luke,  _ again _ . 

“What’s a meadow?” Luke queries. He sighs as he shows his Master. 

With a cheer of victory, Leia turns her final card around, revealing her five of Flasks. Luke groans and rolls his eyes, sweeping all the cards toward him. 

“Another round?” 

Luke is already pushing the cards together, making sure they’re all facing the same way. He shuffled them the way Han taught him as he says, “One of these days I’m going to win.” 

“I don’t doubt it,” Leia smiles, her eyes the same kind brown as Aunt Beru’s. “A meadow is a green field, rows and rows of grass and flowers. It’s beautiful, peaceful.” 

“Maybe one day we’ll end up somewhere with a meadow,” Luke splices the cards together one last time. “One day when the rebel base moves somewhere that isn’t an ice planet.” 

“Had you ever seen ice before?” 

Luke deals fairly, alternating between him and Leia as he sets the cards down, “No. I never saw anything but sand for my entire life.” 

Leia gathers her cards, humming as she looks at them. Her expression is difficult to read, as always. 

“Do you have any happy memories there?” Leia motions for Luke to go first. “I know you always call Tatooine a dump, but surely there was  _ something _ good about it.” 

Luke presses a six of Coins onto the table, “Well, there was that time where it was just me and Aunt Beru on my birthday. Uncle Owen was off at some convention for a few days, which happened a lot but not enough. She let me sleep in, and when I woke up she had made me a huge breakfast. She was going to take me to Tosche Station, but I threw up from eating so much so fast. That night, she gave me a hat she’d sewn for me. I wore it every time I tried to run away.” 

Leia coos, her lips pressed in a pout. Luke wonders about the hat now, knowing it incinerated in the explosion. He wishes he took it with him that day, but no one ever expects for the only home they’ve ever known to be blown to pieces by the Empire.

“You okay?” Leia asks, and that’s when Luke realizes he’s crying. 

“Apparently not,” Luke forces a laugh, wiping his cheek with the sleeve of what was once Han’s shirt. “I didn’t show you my cards did I?” 

She scrunches up her nose, then draws out an eight of Flasks, “If you did I wouldn’t tell you.” 

They play in silence, with Luke already teetering dangerously close to going over. Leia plays strategically, as always, biting the inside of her cheek and giving nothing away with her expressions. Luke hopes he can be as good as her one day. 

After Leia places down her winning card and gloats in victory, she takes the cards and shuffles them herself. 

As she’s dealing, she says, “Your aunt seemed like a lovely person.” 

“She made the best out of a bad situation,” Luke peaks at his cards, surprised that they aren’t as bad as before. “Your parents adored you.” 

Leia nods, playing a Mistress right off the bat, “They did, thank you.” 

She wins fairly easy this time, her second card being a ten of Staves. Luke groans in frustration, hands fumbling the cards as he attempts to shuffle them. If Leia was annoyed with him being a sore loser, she didn’t show it. 

“We should do something special for your birthday this year,” Leia says out of nowhere. “Maybe have a big meal like Aunt Beru made, but only if you promise not to throw it up.” 

Luke laughs as he passes out the cards, “Hey, it’s not like I did it on purpose. We could do something for your birthday too, I’m not sure where we’d find something like a meadow though.” 

“When’s your birthday?” 

Luke answers, and Leia freezes as she’s looking at her cards. 

“That’s the same day as mine, and you’re-”

“Nineteen,” Luke replies. “Just like you.” 

With a sigh, Leia shakes her head and sets down her first card. Luke doesn’t even look to see what it is, he’s too focused on the princess in front of him. 

“How strange.”

“Very strange indeed,” Leia slits her eyes at him, still as unreadable as ever. “We were born on different planets on the same day and somehow we still ended up in the same place. The galaxy has a weird way of operating.” 

Luke pulls out a random card and sets it down without looking, “The galaxy or R2 units?” 

“Both,” Leia grins. “Neither of us knew our parents either. Maybe we were separated at birth or something, twin telepathy drawing us back together.” 

He watches as Leia plays her hand, then he puts down a card of his own. He sees it’s a four of Staves, paired next to a six of Sabers. Luke’s heart quickens as he looks at the Mistress still in his hand. 

“Possibly so,” Luke bites his lip.

As soon as Luke realizes Leia didn’t make it to twenty three, he smacks his Mistress down on the table, nearly jumping out of his seat in excitement. Leia sits there, stunned as Luke smiles, holding his fists up in a celebratory gesture. 

“You finally won, congratulations,” Leia says, her lips upturned into a smirk. 

Luke sits back down, pushing the cards toward Leia, “I wasn’t even paying attention that time, that’s the funny part.” 

“It’s easy to overthink and then you miss obvious cues,” Leia replies, shuffling the cards. “One more game?” 

Luke nods, “You feel like losing again?” 

Leia rolls her eyes and laughs, a sound that brings Luke immense amounts of comfort. It’s now that he realizes that family isn’t about who he’s related to, but rather the people who make him feel at home. Leia, with her bright clothes and sharp tongue put him at ease the same way Aunt Beru’s stories and warm eyes did. 

Maybe the home Luke’s been searching for his whole life isn’t a place, but rather a group of people. He watches Leia as she passes the cards between them. She catches him staring, then smiles back at him with a goofy grin. 

“Do the honors,” Leia says, and Luke sets down a random card. A two of Sabers.

For the first time, Luke is okay with losing: he's already won enough. 


End file.
